SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

[wonkywheel]

Wonkywheel

Mark is the name

I am attempting to build A SKarosser type camper from scratch. It is to fit on my Ford Ranger twin cab Thunder Pick up.
The demountable is aimed to be light weight, rot proof, and everything that I want

Most of my camping over the past 10 years has been for between 3 and 5 days at Drag racing meetings. Originally it was in a tent when my son used to come with me. As things moved on I went to meetings on my own and found putting up a tent on my own challenging. I then built an 8x4 teardrop trailer, It contains a single bed mattress, 6 interior cupboards and a galley at the back for cooking. An on board leisure battery charged by a 80 watt solar panel supplies lighting and fan ventilation and power to radio and phone charger . Just what I thought I needed. Hook up and off we go.





Mine is Lightening, to the right of the picture at a teardrop gathering.


The problem was, I did not use marine plywood, only exterior grade. I actually think it was inferior grade because 4 years down the road the ply has suffered serious delamination. I spend more time patching and repairing it than improving it.
Also with increasing age I find the limitation of a compact teardrop difficult with night time cramps. Sleeping as nature intended in my cosy teardrop was fine until you have to fall out the door to stomp about with cramp in the middle of the night. Strategically placed wind breaks was the best I could do.

So I decided to build a demountable to solve all the above problems. (swap for a different set of problems )

After many hours research I decided on the SKarosser design.
As an engineer I have access to a high end CAD system and used this to design my very own demountable.
That's the preamble, more info and pics on the next post

[zildjian]

There are a couple of different designs of this Swedish camper,
why don't you come along to Settle and join us for the weekend later this month and look over them, details'

bring your trailer and join other prospective members at same time you're more than welcome

[wonkywheel]

Zildjian,

thanks for the invite but, that weekend is already booked for the Summer Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway.
It would have been nice to see exactly what I am aiming for instead of just pictures, perhaps another meet.

Mark

[zildjian]

Let me know where you are based, let's see if there's someone local to you can show you around

[wonkywheel]

Progress on the Photo front

As I said, I have access to a cad system and designed my camper using that. All of the spar sizes and orientation was worked out then the materials cut.



The design has turned out to be a bit fluid as I move forward. Aiming at a lightweight camper I have decided to use 25mm Aluminium box section for most of the frame work. This has had to be upgraded in places for added strength.

As you can see, it is not easy having to do an outside build. Bits of Aluminium everywhere.






Even Use the Rangers tailgate as a work bench.






Just to get an initial feel for how big the footprint is and to see if it looks like it will go together

[Alexd]

Quite a puzzle to complete there what are you planning in regard to standing it on when off Ranger?

[wonkywheel]

Hi Alexd,

I plan to use 3 or 4 jacks as with most demountables. I haven't decided quite which yet other than the front corners are reinforced to act as lifting points. I have yet to decide on one single rear centre jack or two rear corner jacks. Three legs are always more stable than four as they always spread the load and do not rock.

The latest trial build without the cab over double bed looked like this. Sections clamped together.



This trial build showed the need for strengthening at the front as I cannot rely on the 2mm fibreglass to hold everything rigid even after welding.

Mark

[mjb666]

Hi Mark/wonkywheel

A belated Welcome to the Forum, too be honest, i actually started reading your first post and it read like you'd been a Member for ages so i forgot.

Really interested in this self build, keep it up and plenty of photo's if you can. It's great to watch especially by Member's like me that have no DIY skills!

Mike.

[wonkywheel]

Thanks Mike,

progress will slow down now as the photo's are almost up to date.

Mark

[wonkywheel]

More build progress

Ordered 3 sheets of checker plate and started to cut and fit





The random order of build and choice of task is always dependant on :

1 The weather
2 The time it will take
3 How much energy I feel I have

Also ordered 3 sheets of Aluminium composite for the horizontal surfaces and interior doors.
Started to cut some of that too.




Did a bit of assembly work although I have run out of the corner piece aluminium angle that I use to fix together the box section.

I use ones similar to these steel ones I used on my teardrop build. They allow me to fit the assembly together and correct any miss positioning before it is welded permanently.
Some of the joints can need 5 or more corner pieces to make them totally rigid so you can how I can get through them quickly. Even with a chop saw and a small drill press they seem to take forever. Filing and de-burring take the longest time.




So that will be another session building a stock of them before I can continue.
That's why some of the spars look a bit wonky



This is the base section that will fit in the truck tub
Next will be lugging it up to thunder to see how it fits in the back of the truck.
A little worried as every thing was done from initial measurements of the truck then designed on the CAD system.



Since the photograph was taken I have fitted roof bars to the truck cab. These were used for surf board transportation at holiday time
Problem might be I have not allowed enough height for the cab over nose to miss the bars. Ideally I would like to leave them on.
Cad design is 1040mm from base as it sits on the load liner to the underside of the bed. Time will tell